Before You Get Mad at Your Significant Other, Be Sure to Do This First

I always make it a point to carry some sort of snack with me when I'm out and about. Why? Because whenever I, my husband, my little kids, or one friend in particular turns into a crankmonster, I produce said snack and it almost always does wonders in making us feel better. Kind of like a mood Band-Aid! And, according to new research, there could be a really good reason for that.

Eating every meal together is not going to help your weight-loss goals. "Because men naturally have more muscle than women, they need more calories than we do," Bauer says. Not to mention the fact that most guys tend to opt for greasier, carb-heavy food than you might choose on your own. If you must order pizza for two, serve yourself on a smaller plate, enjoy a veggie- or salad-based first course, and then try stopping after once serving instead of matching him slice for slice.

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A recent paper published in PNAS found that there may be a distinct correlation between low blood sugar levels and aggression in married couples. The research found when their blood glucose levels dropped, couples were more likely to stick pins into voodoo dolls representing their other halves...and were also more likely to blast loud noises into their significant other's earphones. Which sounds a bit whoa, but...science!

For the study, researchers worked with 107 married couples for three weeks. Participants had their glucose level checked in the morning, before she or he had eaten breakfast, and at night, just before bedtime. They were also asked to perform tasks—like, take a doll representing their spouses and insert as many as 51 pins, depending on how angry they felt with them. After three weeks of the study, they also played games with their spouses in the lab where they competed on computer games. Whoever won got to unleash a noise—such as an ambulance siren or fingernails on a chalkboard—into their spouse's headphones, and were able to adjust the duration and the volume of each sound. (In reality, the competition was rigged; their significant others were in other rooms and weren't actually hearing any of the noise.)

Anyway, researchers discovered that when participants' blood glucose levels were low, they were more likely to stick more pins in the doll and play louder, longer noises. The upshot? "Results suggest that interventions designed to provide individuals with metabolic energy might foster more harmonious couple interactions," the researchers wrote.

Interesting! What do you think of the study? Have you experienced anything similar?